


The First Duets

by anistarrose



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining, also mild angst but mostly fluff, brief glimpses of the beginning and end of a not-so-brief slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23918938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anistarrose/pseuds/anistarrose
Summary: Almost every day at the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration, Lup overhears someone playing the piano, but she’s content to admire their performance from afar — at first.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	The First Duets

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up to the Blupjeans fandom years late bearing just the sweetest, most serendipitous fluff I can think of*

_Cycle Zero (Two-Sunned Planet)_

The atrium of the Research Building was easily Lup’s favorite place on the IPRE campus. Within a week of being hired as an arcanist, she’d already developed a routine to maximize the amount of time she’d spend there — early every afternoon, she’d heat up her lunch in her lab, then bring it outside to the lobby where Taako would invariably join her, and the two of them would catch up on the day’s happenings while overlooking the Institute’s pride and joy:

The ground floor was the proud host to a multi-tiered fountain, from which waves of water gently cascaded down blocks of black granite and across magically glowing constellation patterns. To its east, the fountain faced a grand window from which early-arriving employees could watch the double sunrise, while on each of the second through fifth floors, a semicircle worth of offices and lobbies overlooked the atrium from the west, stretching all the way up to the domed glass ceiling. 

The sitting areas were vertically aligned such that they all had a view of the fountain without having a view of each other, and decorated with everything from hanging plants to model spaceships. Lup and Taako were partial to the smallest of the lobbies on the third floor — which was both close to their labs, and hardly ever occupied by anyone besides the two of them.

But for all that she appreciated the stunning architecture and the convenience of the meeting place, they weren’t the main reasons why Lup had adjusted her schedule so precisely around lunchtime at the atrium. 

Rather, the _real_ highlight of her day was the grand piano on the fifth floor — which she’d only walked by once or twice, but thought of regularly, because almost every day at the same time she and Taako ate lunch, someone on the fifth floor would step up to the piano and play a song or two. Carrying above the faint babbling of flowing water from the fountain, the classical music felt almost magically soothing, and as Lup grew familiar with the pianist’s favorite songs, she took to humming along.

“Are you ever gonna actually go up there, and tell whoever’s playing that you like their music?” Taako asked as they finished lunch one day.

“And ruin the whole _mystery_?” Lup replied, drumming her fingers to the tempo of the song. “Maybe for some of us, the allure is in the _anonymity_ of it all. Ever think about that?”

“Okay, weirdo.” 

“Okay, _boring_.” 

Weeks passed, then months, and the magical star-shaped lights beneath the fountain shifted with the seasons. The Institute gradually grew abuzz with excitement, as the Starblaster mission morphed from a proof of concept, to a project in need of funding, to the top priority of both the Research and Exploration departments — and as the Research building grew more hectic, the pianist stopped playing every afternoon, but they still made time at least three or four days a week.

They were consistently present on Mondays, Lup noticed after a few weeks of relatively sparse performances, and from there, she concocted a plan.

Rather than carry it into work and ruin the chance to completely surprise and confound Taako, Lup stashed her violin in a pocket dimension early in the morning, then procured it at the beginning of their lunch break — much to Taako’s confusion, as predicted.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Is _this_ why you kept me up all night practicing?”

“It’s been a long time since I played. I didn’t want to be rusty,” Lup explained matter-of-factly. 

She waited for a lull in the music, as the pianist presumably switched to the sheet music for a different song, and then, she began to play —

  


On the fifth floor, Barry was looking through his sheet music, trying to remember what he had or hadn’t played recently, when he heard the solo performance coming from below.

It sounded like either a violin or a viola — he didn’t know enough about that family of instruments to be sure — but he _could_ tell that whoever was playing was not just skilled, but putting their whole heart into the performance, lingering on a different note every few seconds as if to savor it.

He could also tell what key they were playing in, which meant nothing was stopping him from attempting to play along. Hesitantly at first, he added a few simple chords, harmonizing with the song on the fly — and like they’d been waiting for him to join them, the other musician launched into a more complicated melody. It was a classical piece that Barry had played before, albeit not recently, but he took it as an opportunity to elaborate on the chords he’d been playing, half-remembering and half-improvising an accompaniment. 

At first, they weren’t quite in sync, but they adjusted quickly — and Barry didn’t dare look up from his piano, in fear of making eye contact with someone else in the lounge while smiling like an idiot.

  


Lup had a tendency to close her eyes when playing music she’d committed to memory anyway, but this time, she kept them open — if only for the sake of not missing a second of Taako’s flabbergasted expression. As the song drew to a conclusion, she regretted not picking out something longer, and couldn’t help but improvise a transition to a different piece she remembered the pianist playing last week. 

Her partner caught on quickly, despite a few wrong notes on both their parts, and the duet slowly evolved into something like a conversation — whenever one seemed to be reaching a conclusion, the other took the lead with a new melody. 

The unspoken message was clear: they both would want to keep playing forever, if they could.

It could’ve been six minutes or sixty minutes before Lup’s fingers began to tire, and she let the pianist conclude the duet with a bittersweet tune and a decrescendo. There was a moment of near-silence, aside from the ever-present gurgle of the fountain — but then, there was applause, and Lup looked out over the atrium to see that a crowd had gathered on the ground floor.

“We’ll have to do this again sometime,” she murmured, smiling as she placed her violin back in its case and returned it to the pocket dimension. “You wanna join us next time, Taako?”

Taako snorted. “Is your ensemble looking for a really kickass triangle player? ‘Cause you _know_ that’s my one and only musical skill, but I swear, you’re not gonna find anyone better in the whole universe.”

“Send me your résumé, and then I’ll think about arranging an audition for you,” Lup replied.

When she returned to her lab, a little bit hungry but still riding the high of her performance, she didn’t even notice the envelope on her desk until her Stone of Farspeech buzzed with a call from Taako, demanding that she check her lab for a letter — and not just any letter, but a letter from none other than Captain Davenport of the Starblaster mission.

And sure enough, that was exactly what the envelope contained:

_Dear Dr. Lup Taaco,_

_Congratulations! After excelling at all stages of the rigorous interview and examination process, you have been selected out of hundreds of applicants for one of seven positions on the upcoming extraplanar mission aboard the Starblaster._

_With the scheduled departure date in less than two months, you will naturally need to complete your final training as soon as possible. Our training facility is located in the east wing of the Exploration Building, and a new dormitory, laboratory, and office have already been prepared for you there. (Since your twin brother was also selected for the mission, I have arranged for the two of you to be assigned adjacent dorm rooms, as per your earlier request.)_

_Looking forward to our surely groundbreaking discoveries on the mission,_

_Captain Davenport_

_Exploration Council Chairperson and Head of the Starblaster Mission_

There were no atriums or grand pianos in the training facility, or even the Exploration building proper, but that was the last thing on Lup’s mind as she and Taako rejoiced. They’d wanted to see worlds beyond their planet since they’d been tiny elven children, before there had even existed definitions for words like “spaceship” or “astronaut” — and now, they’d secured a route to not just making their dreams a reality, but doing it _together_.

A few times throughout the two months before the mission departed, Lup revisited the Research building, hoping to overhear a piano solo that she could transform into a duet — but the pianist must’ve been a lot busier lately, too, because she never heard anything besides the sounds of the fountain and of bustling, excited scientists.

***

_Cycle 47 (Legato Conservatory)_

Rainy evenings were evidently common in the kingdom of Legato, so Lup summoned an umbrella-shaped forcefield over her and Barry’s heads as they followed the winding cobblestone path down the hill from the Conservatory, and towards the restaurant Marlow had recommended. 

“So, let me guess: you and Taako are thinking about whipping up a dish for the Light of Creation?” Barry asked, hardly noticing the puddle he stepped in. “So now you’re scouting out the local competition?”

“Perhaps, but I’m not committing to the idea yet,” Lup answered. “Taako already hatched a little make-art-quick scheme of his own, and… well, don’t get me wrong, I obviously vibe with the opinion that cooking is an art. But I cook every week, and learn new recipes almost every cycle. If I’m going to be practicing something for almost a whole _year_ , I’d rather take the chance to hone a skill I don’t get to use as much, you know what I mean?”

“No, that makes sense. Last I heard from Merle, he’d already invented a whole new dance genre or something.”

“Sounds like Merle.” Lup nodded. “So, what’s going on over on Planet Barold? Has inspiration struck for you yet?”

“Well, I’m kinda curious if the mountain will accept academic papers. Or at least academic papers on art history, barring anything else?” Barry felt the blood rush to his face as Lup laughed, and he laughed along with her. “But other than that, uh, I’m fresh out of actual serious art ideas.”

That wasn’t entirely true. He knew one thing, and it was that he _wanted_ to collaborate with Lup, even though the more individual pieces they submitted, the better chance they had of getting into the mountain — but he still might’ve asked her right then and there, had they not just arrived at the doorstep of their destination.

The outside of the restaurant had predictably smelled like rain and spring flowers, but the second Barry opened the door, he was hit with all kinds of mouthwatering smells — ranging from freshly baked bread to all kinds of spices that would probably give his digestive system hell, but be worth sampling anyway. It reminded him of his mother’s cooking, and of the open-air market square that had been just a short walk from the IPRE headquarters.

Word of the extraplanar visitors from the silver ship had apparently spread fast, because the head chef was quick to invite them on a tour of the kitchen. Lup accepted the tour offer while Barry declined, and a waiter showed him to a table for two. They presented him with a plate of savory appetizers and a basket of piping-hot rolls and pastries, but despite his appetite, his attention was drawn more to the grand piano in the center of the room.

The waiter must’ve noticed him looking, because they told him: “Anyone’s welcome to step up and play the piano while they’re waiting for their food to arrive. But I’m afraid our selection of sheet music is rather sparse, because most regular diners who also perform choose to bring their own.”

“Thanks for the info.” Barry stood up from his table. “But you know, I think I’ll give it a shot anyway.”

He hadn’t played the piano since his IPRE scientist days back home — but _hell_ , this restaurant reminded him of home. It was a predominantly cobblestone building much like the house he’d grown up in, where his mother had taught him to read sheet music after nine-year-old Barry had finished reading every other book in the house — and of course, the arrangement with the piano was just like the one at the Research building, where Barry used to play almost every day before securing his spot on the Starblaster mission.

(Before unknowingly ensuring that he’d constitute one-seventh of the surviving population from his entire planar system; before ensuring that he’d bear one-seventh of their burden to save their home planet if they could, and carry on its memory if they couldn’t.)

Barry knew he was out of practice, but he ignored the sheet music as he sat down, beginning with a chord that reminded him of the hum from the Starblaster’s bond engine. From there, he improvised, tweaking an old favorite piece of his and transforming its relaxing melody into a somber tune, full of bittersweet nostalgia for performances and audiences and entire worlds bygone. Music had always been a way for Barry to express how he felt when he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit it out loud — and right now, having let his mind wander to missed opportunities and unfulfillable burdens, he felt homesick and helpless. 

The restaurant’s patrons looked on approvingly, either not noticing or forgiving the occasional wrong notes, struck by the mournful tone but not knowing the inspiration, the forty-seven years of loss and sorrow —

Save for Lup, who burst out of the kitchen and wove between tables before coming to a halt at arm’s length from Barry, her eyes wide with recognition. 

And Barry felt exactly the same as he’d felt the first time Lup had ever seen him crying — grief-stricken, but _understood_ , and most of all, deeply in love. 

“I need to go get something from the boat,” she whispered to him, wiping her eye as he stopped playing. “I’ll be right back, so stay right there, okay?”

She stepped outside, and then, after a pause so brief that it could’ve only been possible with the use of teleportation spells, she stepped back in carrying a violin — which Barry suddenly remembered seeing her buy early last cycle, only for her to never have time to play it throughout the frantic search for the Light.

With a nod from Lup, the two began to play again, and within the first measure, they realized — this was not their first duet, not by almost half a century.

But it _was_ their first duet face-to-face, and they’d be damned if they weren’t going to make it a memorable one. This duet, they didn’t linger on as many notes — they’d taken their time, they’d savored brief moments, for decades. They’d longed and yearned for long enough — and though they still weren’t _quite_ ready to confess their love out loud, they both knew that love was there, and they both knew that the right moment for confessions would arrive in only a matter of time; they stood at the beginning of a crescendo, soon to culminate in a dramatic key change.

There was no grief in this duet, nor regret, nor mourning. It was not about what they’d lost, but what they’d gained on their journey — the knowledge, and the bonds, and all the time in the world.

When they stopped playing, the entire restaurant applauded, but Barry and Lup hardly noticed, too preoccupied with each other to care what the rest of the world thought of them.

“You want to do something like this for our submission to the Light?” Barry asked. “For old times’ sake?”

And Lup beamed at him, and replied: “It would be my pleasure, Bluejeans.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, comments/[reblogs](https://anistarrose.tumblr.com/post/616778935085187072/the-first-duets-taz-balance) are welcomed!
> 
> (also I'd just like to state for the record that I haven't touched a musical instrument in about five years, so be gentle in the comments if some of the musical terminology isn't completely perfect lol)


End file.
